"It's a preliminary meeting just to talk about uses, or future uses, of the park and landfill area," committee Chairman Mitchell Kaufman said Tuesday. "It's really up to the residents, what they feel the best use of that park is. I think Stamford could use another park that stands out. And here's an opportunity for us to do that here."

City officials padlocked the 17-acre triangular property after a federal Environmental Protection Agency report revealed contamination in soil, sediment and water at or near Scofieldtown Park exceeding recommended health levels. The park, which rests atop an 80-year-old landfill, has been investigated by state and federal environmental officials periodically since the 1980s.

Mayor Michael Pavia signed a consent order with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in 2010 to install a permanent cap on the park in compliance with state standards. The cap is intended to trap accumulated remnants of 34 years of household and city dumping -- and related environmental contamination -- underneath a synthetic tarp, which will stretch across the entire landfill site. The undertaking, estimated to cost roughly $6 million, is tentatively set for completion in November 2014.

The project's first phase calls for the installation of 45 environmental testing wells -- steel pipes about 6 inches in diameter that will be drilled into the ground to depths ranging from 15 to 60 feet. Environmental officials will monitor the new wells, in addition to 11 existing wells, on a quarterly basis. Soil, sediment, surface and groundwater will all be tested over the course of a year at locations on and near the former landfill.

The monitoring at Scofieldtown will determine the city's approach for sealing off the landfill. If testing reveals widespread, significant pollution, remediation might take more time and resources than predicted. But for now, officials are expecting to install the tarp and then cover tit with 1 to 2 feet of clean soil. As the city prepares to start field work at the site, City Engineer Lou Casolo told city representatives they should waste no time soliciting public input about the use of the park.

"It is very important to understand what the end use is in terms of how we are going to be designing this," he told the North Stamford Water Supply Committee in January. "It will save rework, it may save cost. I recommend we start doing that as soon as possible."

North Stamford Concerned Citizens for the Environment sent out an email this week urging its members to attend Thursday's public hearing.

"This is an opportunity to reshape the public amenities available in North Stamford," group President Karen DeFalco wrote. "Let's plan this now and get it right -- it's our backyard and we should treat it as such."